Naomi GDROM technical questions

[nate]

Hey everyone, I've been thinking about the naomi GDROM system and I have a couple of questions for the experts:

I understand that the GDROM loads the game and stores it in the DIMM board memory upon game start up. So does the GDROM completely shut down and stop spinning after loading? Or does it keep spinning? I tried to open the lid on mine while a game was running, but I got an error message about GDROM door open...

Also, why would the GDROM need a dedicated fan? And even if it does get warm while loading, why would it need the fan to run continuously after the game is loaded and running? I've seen CD burners with little fans, but lots of optical drives don't have any active cooling?

 

[Bay78]

The GD-rom always spins. I'm not sure about the fan thing though, but the bigger the fan the better for cooling. I think it spins very fast and heats up especially inside a candy cab so hence the bigger fan.

 

[jeffkun34]

I thought the GD-ROM stopped spinning after a set amount of time but I could be wrong. I thought I remembered feeling the drive after 10 minutes or so of the game running and I could not feel it vibrating. I'm done dealing with the GD-ROM crap anyways after switching to a CF drive.

 

[Xian Xi]

The GD rom shouldn't always be spinning, it should only spin upon accessing data.

 

[bryan]

I can hear mine load up and then it stops.

 

[nate]

The GD-rom always spins. I'm not sure about the fan thing though, but the bigger the fan the better for cooling. I think it spins very fast and heats up especially inside a candy cab so hence the bigger fan.

Yeah a Naomi2 GDROM setup in a candy cab does start to cook a bit! If the GDROM is spinning, then it makes sense that it needs a fan.... However, since some people think it stops, I may have to do an experiment to satisfy my curiousity

 

[pipes]

My understanding is that once the game is loaded the GD Rom essentially does nothing and stops spinning completely. I don't notice it spinning during game play.

 

[nate]

Alright, well I did a simple experiment tonight: I jammed a sliver of wood into the GDROM case to hit the switch that the lid normally presses in. I powered up Capcom vs SNK 2, and watched the disc spin....

It spun for the entire "loading" screen, then kept spinning after the game had started. After about 3 minutes it stopped spinning completely.

Which really makes me wonder, why did sega put a fan in the gdrom case if it isn't even running for more than 5 minutes during game loading.